Canned applesauce is a real boon to the home cook and a must-have for the Doomsday prepper.

And is it really any wonder? It doesn’t cost much to stock up on, it’s sold at every dollar store and supermarket, and, once opened, the applesauce can be incorporated into a variety of delicious meals to feed even the hungriest of eaters.

From a food storage perspective, canned applesauce is attractive because it’s shelf-stable. In other words, it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and as long as you store it properly—which we’ll get to in a moment—it has an almost indefinite shelf life.

And yet, no food lasts forever. Even canned foods, which stay safe to eat for decades, will eventually lose their flavor profile and nutritional value with the passage of time.

So let’s talk about how long canned applesauce lasts (and how to store it).

How Long Does Canned Applesauce Last?

The Takeaways: Canned Applesauce

Where to store: Cool, dry, and dark place

Best quality: 12-18 months commercially canned, 1 year home-canned

Tips: Once opened, transfer to an airtight food storage container and refrigerate. Eat within 3-4 days.

Canning is a great way to preserve applesauce along with most of its nutritional value for an extended period of time. It’s also economical, as canned applesauce can be safely stored without the need for refrigeration or freezing.

Exactly how long this period is comes down to the preservation method:

As a rule of thumb, commercially canned foods stay safe to eat for longer than home-canned foods do because (1) the canning process is tightly controlled and (2) the containers—tin cans, glass jars with lids, and Mylar bags—are highly reliable.

Properly stored, commercially canned applesauce will stay safe to eat indefinitely. But the canned applesauce will retain its best quality for only up to 12-18 months.

After that, it will start to lose its flavor profile and vitamin content. Its protein, carbohydrate, and mineral content, however, will remain the same.¹

Home canned applesauce will keep its best quality for 1 year and should be used up within 2 years of canning.²

Canned applesauce is not a food suitable for long storage. Over time, the acidity of the juice will react with the metal in the can, and the applesauce will develop a tinny taste.

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How to Store Canned Applesauce

Store canned applesauce in a cool, dry, and dark place—away from sources of heat, excess moisture, and direct sunlight. Research has shown that the ideal storage temperature for canned foods is from 40 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (from 4 to 21 degrees Celcius).³

The best places to store canned applesauce in the home are in a dark cupboard in the kitchen, on the shelving of the pantry, in an unheated basement, or in a low-humidity root cellar. If you don’t have space for it in these areas, you can also store it in the garage or attic.

No matter where you keep your canned applesauce, make sure to store the cans off of the floor. Otherwise, moisture can build up underneath them and cause the cans to rust, making their edibility impossible to determine.

Keep canned applesauce far away from the stove, the fridge, the freezer, the dryer, an AC unit, a heater, or any pipes. Don’t put it on the windowsill, especially if it’s preserved in glass jars, or any other sunlit areas in your home.

When storing commercially canned applesauce, make sure that the best-by date is clearly visible on the can. (Hint: It’s usually printed on the lid or the bottom of the can.)

If it isn’t visible, then write down the date you purchased the applesauce from the supermarket on a label.

When storing applesauce that you canned yourself, label the date of canning on the jar’s lid with a marker.

Can You Eat Canned Applesauce Past Their Expiration Date?

As long as the applesauce was commercially canned and you stored it properly—to put it simply, in a cool, dry, and dark place—food safety experts claim that it will stay safe to eat indefinitely.⁴

This means that, technically, you can eat canned applesauce past the expiration date, but there are a few rules to hoe by.

To get the best quality in terms of flavor profile and nutritional value, consume the canned applesauce within 1-2 years of when you unpacked it from the grocery bags or canned it yourself.

When it comes to canned goods, food safety should be taken seriously.

Improper canning, whether at the factory or at home, can lead to the growth of Clostridium botulinum, a type of bacteria that produces a neurotoxic protein that can cause the severe (and deadly) food poisoning known as botulism.⁵

Before eating or cooking with canned applesauce, inspect the cans to check for bulging, swelling, corrosion, and rust. Look for signs of cracks and broken seals on jars.

If the vacuum seal is broken, throw the applesauce away. Disease-causing bacteria can get in and render it unsafe to eat.

Discard badly dented cans or jars with bulging or loose lids. And don’t try to eat the applesauce if you hear and see it fizzing, spurting, or foaming after opening.

Even after opening, trust your senses and apply common sense. If the applesauce looks weird and smells off, don’t eat it.

Can Canned Applesauce Freeze?

Don’t freeze canned applesauce in its original container or accidentally allow it to freeze when stored in the trunk of your car (or in an unheated basement) during the months of winter.

Freezing causes the applesauce in the can or jar to swell, degrades its texture, and may lead to rusty cans that burst or jars with broken seals that invite disease-causing bacteria.

To freeze applesauce, first transfer it from the can or jar that it was canned in to a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Frozen food stays safe to eat indefinitely, but the applesauce will eventually dry out and lose its best quality.